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What Is Organic SEO?

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In many marketing circles, including my own, the term SEO is almost a dirty word. We associate it with cheap back links, dodgy companies offering, “THE FIRST SPOT ON GOOGLE FOR YOUR BUSINESS!!!!!!” and keyword stuffed copy that’s unreadable and dull.

Marketing copywriters like myself have actually championed Google’s efforts to rid the engines of these embarrassing SEO efforts, while marketing gurus such as

We got our heads together and brought together a quick summary of organic SEO, to help clients not only understand what this generic term means but what results they can expect to see. Initially it is a hard sell, as there’s no short-cut to the top of the search engines, a little patient along with a shift in attitude.

Here are the 8 important facts we wanted to get across to those still stuck in a keyword fuelled haze where quality content has no place.

#1. It’s Not All About You

Blogs are of course an ideal way to bring traffic from other sources. They also give a company content to share. I write for many bug brands who all understand the importance of a blog and how long it takes to see a good return (sometimes up to six months). I also work with medium sized businesses who wonder why their blog isn’t taking off. They’ll get in touch with a list of titles they want to see populating their RSS feed and I’ll grimace as I read:

  • We’ve moved to new offices
  • My holiday in Wales this weekend
  • We have 10% off
  • We won an award
  • What people say about our products
  • Why people love us

Of course, any achievement should be celebrated but that’s not a blog- it’s a press release, it’s news and so deserves a separate section. Your blog and indeed any other content should be about your customers, giving tips, advice or even entertaining them for a few minutes.

For instance, if you sell baby products, get blogs from midwives that give valuable advice on a range of topics and so on..

#2. Create Connections

Connections on line are your secret to success. Back links are still important but it’s not enough to scatter them like grass seed all over the web. You need to have great content on a popular site. That’s why you should reach out to great sites, offer them something worthwhile, give them an engaging post that their readers will want to share. It’s a win/win situation.

As Paul from Visualsoft eCommerce says, “we’ve spent years building relevant connections for our clients and always stress the importance of appealing to like-minded businesses as well as to the customer.”

#3. Be Patient or Double Your Budget

Marketing like this takes time. You will see results straight away but unless you run it alongside an AdWords campaign you won’t experience that massive instant hit you’re familiar with when using outdated SEO methods.

We don’t mind telling you this, why? Because it may take longer to get to the top but once you’re there, as long as you’re consistent, it’ll be very hard for competitors to knock you off it. You’ll have also built a solid reputation along the way, you’ll have picked up quality customers that are loyal, not those that visit and disappear, and if you look at your bounce and conversion rates you’ll see, they’ll be a lot better than with any SEO effort you’ve employed previously.

#4. Cheap SEO Costs Money

Since the Panda and Penguin updates, cheap SEO can actually cost you money, it has the power to bankrupt your business in a flash and is starting to do just that. How? Quite simply Google and your visitors see keyword stuffed copy, bought traffic, dodgy back-links and low par content as spam.

Your users will hate you for it, they’ll feel insulted, you’ll probably never win them back.

Google will penalise you for it and unless you have the cash to start all over again with a new name, URL and new brand, you’ll have little chance of convincing them to give you a second chance.

You’ll see this already as many sites that previously held the top spot are slipping down the ranks, disappearing into the abyss while in the background theyy’re frantically throwing good money after bad to undo the damage that’s been done.

#5. Organic SEO and Inbound Marketing is Evergreen

Using organic SEO and inbound marketing ensures you never antagonise Google and you never go out of fashion. No matter how many updates are rolled out if you concentrate on quality you’ll always survive and thrive. Gone will be those frantic Monday mornings when you realise you’ve slipped down the search engines because of a new update, you will feel confident that no matter what happens, you’ll always be championed as a business that gives Google users a great browsing experience.

#6. Organic SEO and Inbound Marketing is Natural

All of this should be easy, it is what businesses have been doing for centuries, putting the customer first. It’s organic but it’s also completely natural. It makes sense that for a business to thrive it should be trusted, respected, loved and adored and cheap SEO is never going to incite those emotions, no matter how much you spend.

#7. Your Customers are Your Ambassadors

When you do manage to create this reputation and you are loved by your customers you’ll find they become your best marketing tool. They’ll shout about you, recommend you, share your updates and generally keep you where you belong- at the very top.

#8. Keywords Still Have a Place

There is still a place for keywords and a few here and there will help but we like to see them more as words to help users find you rather than stuffing copy with a density of  10-15% just to please Google (as Google won’t be pleased!)

Above all put the customer first.

Some great examples of how to make the customer the centre of your campaign can be found on Paul’s site at Visualsoft eCommerce you’ll see how leading brands such as Box and more, put the customer in the sepicentre of their marketing.

Images: ”seo word cut from newspaper on handmade paper background/ Shutterstock.com“

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